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WRITINGS AND TEACHINGS

KENNETH WESTHUES
Professor Emeritus
University of Waterloo, Canada

Updated with quotes for May 2025:

Classic:
It must not be forgotten that it is especially dangerous to enslave men in the minor details of life. For my own part, I should be inclined to think freedom less necessary in great things than in little ones....
—Alexis de Tocqueville, Democracy in America, 1835.

Direct:
The culmination of a mass society is rule by some charismatic demagogue, a ranting savior whom followers believe can magically set things right. Politics is reduced to personalities, and there is less concern for law than for faith.
— First Sociology, 1982.

Garden moment for May 2025:

Epimedium × rubrum blooming in Niagara at the start of this month. One reason I like this perennial so much is that its common name, barrenwort, understates its beauty. The blooms don't last long.

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